FACT - In The Blink Of An Eye

After releasing their well-received self-titled US debut, FACT have returned with their Japanese-only release of In The Blink Of An Eye. While the album may have done well with the underground scene, it was not without its faults, and Blink is their first attempt to rebuild their sound and fix the musical inconsistencies that flooded their previous release. In The Blink Of An Eye brings a new sense of cohesion and flair to FACT while maintaining every quality fans loved from their debut.

Title track, and opener, “In The Blink Of An Eye” bursts into the dynamic comfort every FACT fan will know and love. Their original brand of melodic hardcore is undeniable and the broken English of their vocals has become something of an integral part of their sound. The song is sadly cut short at 2:21 and the record moves into follow-up “This Is The End,” a fast paced, technical track continuing in FACT fashion with heavy screams and fast drumming fronted by apt guitar work and a catchy chorus. Next comes what could now be FACT’s catchiest track, and newest single, “Slip Of The Lip.” The track is drenched in upbeat, mid-tempo catchiness in the chorus with only mildly harder verses with some rough vocals paired with a bit of melody.

With a very dynamic approach to their music, at times it may feel a bit disjointed, though- or simply feel out of place or unwanted. While their debut suffered from this experimentation a lot more, Blink still holds some pitfalls. The biggest of these is the over-production of vocalist Hiro’s cleans. The auto-tune is more than noticeable along with the super compression placed on it- especially on “Behind A Smile”. His voice sounds like it would be beautiful, so it needs to be let out of the auto-tuned cage of 2008 and be let free in natural beauty. Secondly is the Nintendo-core interlude now used twice on their records- “1-2” and “1-3.” While just for instrumental interlude, it really feels like putting a cow in the chicken coupe (it doesn’t look right!). Lastly is the more than horrendous lyrical content. While most may not be the most decipherable, when you have a chorus’ along the likes of “Silent Night,” you can’t help but cringe. Perhaps over time Hiro will expand his English vocabulary and concepts and give something golden.

The second half of the record, following “1-3,” contains some real winners on it with “Risk of Disorder” and “Sunset.” The former takes a very melodic route for the first bit and slides into a faster harder section for the remaining sections of the song while the latter rehashes the title track with a nice melodic hardcore, technically based song.

Being their second release in a short few months, In The Blink Of An Eye shows an immediate maturation and focus on their music. With a less broad approach and narrowing into a niche sound, FACT have a lot to prove but the means to jump that bar in the future.